New York City’s official condom is getting a makeover and City Hall is trying to make it exciting with a contest to design the new wrapper.
The “NYC Condom” is given out free by the millions each year.
“We want to keep people excited about the brand, because we know that condoms protect health,” Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said in a statement. “This is every New Yorker’s chance to help convey that message.”
Officials are looking for a wrapper design that will “capture the city’s distinctive culture while promoting safer sex,” the health department said. The artwork must be original and cannot use copyrighted, trademarked or sexually explicit images.
The special limited edition design will appear on hundreds of thousands of condom wrappers and could also be featured in safe sex promotional material, the city said.
The city’s condom is a lubricated Lifestyles brand. Its once-plain wrapper was redesigned with a subway motif in 2007, and got another design makeover in 2008 to keep things interesting.
Also that year, the city launched a provocative ad campaign on television, radio and subways and buses, encouraging New Yorkers to “Get some.” On Valentine’s Day, street teams handed out free condoms at busy hubs around the city, including Times Square and Wall Street.
The city provides condoms to most any establishment that wants to give them out. The health department says some 2,000 establishments like restaurants, bars, salons and nonprofit groups, have them on hand.
Health officials say the free condom initiative is part of the city’s effort to reduce rates of sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies. More than 100,000 New Yorkers are living with HIV, but thousands don’t know they’re infected, according to the city.
And New York City has the highest rate of AIDS cases in the nation.
The city’s attempts to increase condom use have drawn criticism in the past from religious leaders. In 2007, New York’s top Catholic leaders said Bloomberg’s administration was “blanketing our neighborhoods with condoms” and promoting promiscuity.
Any New Yorker at least 17 years old can submit an entry for the design contest between now and Jan. 22, and those younger than 17 can enter with written permission from a parent or guardian. The health department will unveil finalists in February and the public will choose a winner by online vote.